Wolfgang Rihm

1952 – Born on March 13 in Karlsruhe
1963 – First attempts at composition
1968–1972 – Studied composition with Eugen Werner Velte at the State University of Music in Karlsruhe while still a student at the Humanistic Gymnasium; further composition studies with Wolfgang Fortner and Humphrey Searle
1970 – First appearance at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music
1972 – Completed secondary school (Abitur) and state examination in composition and music theory at the Karlsruhe University of Music
1972/1973 – Composition studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne
1973–1976 – Composition studies with Klaus Huber and musicology studies with Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht in Freiburg im Breisgau
1973–1978 – Occasional teaching in Karlsruhe
1976 – Faust und Yorick – Chamber Opera No. 1 (Jean Tardieu / Frithjof Haas)
1977/1978 – Jakob Lenz – Chamber Opera No. 2 (Georg Büchner / Michael Fröhling)
1978 – Berlin Art Prize Scholarship;
Kranichsteiner Music Prize Darmstadt;
Reinhold Schneider Prize of the City of Freiburg
Since 1978 – Lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer Courses
1979 – Scholarship of the City of Hamburg
1979/1980 – Scholarship at the German Academy in Rome, Villa Massimo (Rome Prize)
1981 – Beethoven Prize of the City of Bonn;
Teaching in Munich
Since 1982 – Member of the Executive Board of the German Composers’ Association
1983 – Scholarship of the Cité des Arts in Paris
1983/1986 – Die Hamletmaschine (Heiner Müller / Rihm)
1984/1985 – Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin;
Co-editor of the music journal Melos (until 1989);
Member of the Executive Board of the German Music Council
1984–1989 – Musical advisor to the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Since 1985 – Professor of composition at the Karlsruhe University of Music, succeeding his teacher Velte;
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Heinrich Strobel Foundation of SWF Baden-Baden
1986 – Rolf Liebermann Prize for the opera Hamletmaschine
1986/1987 – Oedipus (text compiled by Rihm from Sophocles, Hölderlin, Nietzsche, and H. Müller)
1987/1991 – The Conquest of Mexico (Antonin Artaud / Rihm)
Since 1989 – Member of the supervisory board of GEMA
1989 – Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
1990–1993 – Musical advisor to the Center for Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe (ZKM)
1991 – Keynote speaker at the opening of the Salzburg Festival;
Member of the Academies of Arts in Munich, Berlin, and Mannheim
1994 – Séraphin – Music theatre without text, premiered in Frankfurt am Main;
February: Major Rihm Portrait (35 works) as part of Éclat – Days for New Music in Stuttgart
1996 – Scenic premiere of Séraphin in Stuttgart
1997 – Receives the Prix de Composition Musicale de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco;
Composer-in-residence at the Lucerne Festival
1998 – Receives the Jacob Burckhardt Prize of the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Foundation;
Honorary doctorate from the Free University of Berlin
2000 – Composer-in-residence at the Salzburg Festival and the Festival Musica in Strasbourg;
Receives the Bach Prize of the City of Hamburg
2001 – Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Jagden und Formen
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs names Rihm Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
2001/2002 – Rihm’s 50th birthday celebrated across Europe (festivals, premieres)
2003 – Receives the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (awarded May 22, 2003, at Munich’s Cuvilliés Theatre);
November 7: Entry in the Golden Book of the City of Karlsruhe
2004 – May 8: Awarded the Medal of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg
2006 – October 27: Premiere of the opera Das Gehege (after Botho Strauß’ play Final Chorus) at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich
2009 – May 2: Premiere of the monodrama Proserpina at the Rococo Theatre Schwetzingen
2010 – July 27: Premiere of the opera Dionysos (an operatic fantasy after texts by Friedrich Nietzsche, libretto by the composer) at the Salzburg Festival

2010 – September 30: Awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Music by the Venice Biennale
2010 – November 18: Premiere of Lichtes Spiel for violin and small orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall, New York
2011 – Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on the Day of German Unity
2011 – January 15: Premiere of Will Sound More for ensemble at the Alte Oper, Frankfurt am Main
2011 – April 3: Premiere of Dyade for violin and double bass at Avery Fisher Hall, New York
2011 – June 22: Premiere of Nähe fern 1 for orchestra at the KKL Lucerne
2011 – July 9: Premiere of Eine Straße, Lucile for soprano and orchestra in Karlsruhe
2011 – October 19: Premiere of Nähe fern 2 for orchestra at the KKL Lucerne
2011 – October 25: Premiere of Will Sound More Again for ensemble
2011 – October 29: Premiere of Der Maler träumt for baritone and ensemble
2011 – Awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
2012 – February 29: Premiere of Nähe fern 3 for orchestra
2012 – June 13: Premiere of Nähe fern 4 for orchestra
2012 – August 20: Premiere of Dämmrung senkte sich von oben for baritone and orchestra at the KKL Lucerne
2012 – Admitted to the Order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts
2013 – February 10: Premiere of Epilog for string quintet at the Eclat Festival Stuttgart
2013 – April 5: Opening of the Wolfgang Rihm Forum at the Karlsruhe University of Music
2013 – April 18: Appointed Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
2013 – April 27: Premiere of Stille Feste for choir and orchestra in Stuttgart
2013 – June 23: Premiere of A Tribute for orchestra at the Aldeburgh Festival

2013 – October 20: Premiere of IN-SCHRIFT 2 for orchestra
2013 – November 20: Premiere of Verwandlung 5 for orchestra
2013/2014 – Capell-Compositeur of the Saxon State Orchestra Dresden
2014 – May 10: Premiere of Transitus at Teatro alla Scala under Riccardo Chailly
2014 – June 4: Premiere of Verwandlung 6 at the Essen Philharmonic
2014 – August 19: Premiere of the Horn Concerto at the Lucerne Festival (Stefan Dohr, horn)
2014 – August 25: Premiere of the Second Piano Concerto at the Salzburg Festival (Tzimon Barto, piano)
2014 – September 17: Premiere of the Trio Concerto at the Musikfest Berlin (Trio Jean Paul; WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, cond. Jukka-Pekka Saraste)
2014 – October 6: Receives the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit with Star
2014 – November 6: Receives the Robert Schumann Prize for Literature and Music
2015 – January 9: Gedicht des Malers (Poème du Peintre) premiered by Renaud Capuçon and the Vienna Symphony under Philippe Jordan
2015 – July 23: Receives the Decoration of Honour of the State of Salzburg
2015 – October 15: Premiere of the Duo Concerto at Carnegie Hall (Mira Wang, violin; Jan Vogler, cello)
Summer 2016 – Artistic director of the Lucerne Festival Academy; resident composer at the Fast Forward Festival